Sunday, August 1, 2010

Vinyl Wall Art

I know I have been MIA for the last few weeks. My computer crashed and I haven't been able to access any of my pictures or anything else for that matter. I won't be able to show you many of my latest projects because all the before pictures are on the computer that crashed. We are still trying to decide what to do about the computer.

In the meantime, here is a little something I created for my son's room. His walls are a yummy sky blue to match the blue parts of his Winnie the Pooh bedding set. The problem is that the only things hanging on the wall are the comforter, which I added ribbon to so it hangs on the wall (I have never used the comforter with my baby!) The other thing is a super cute Winnie the Pooh sign my mom made when the baby was born. I adore the book "Guess How Much I Love You" by Sam McBratney. In fact, it may be my favorite children's book. My favorite part is the last line, "I love you to the moon and back." Thus, my inspiration for wall art was born. Yes, I have seen these kinds of signs all over the place, but I didn't want to just buy something else that would only be used for a little while. I broke out the Cricut and cut the letters using the Keystone cartridge. The moon and stars are made using George. I used vinyl and stuck it directly to the wall. I love the way it turned out. What do you think?

I learned several things about making vinyl wall art while doing this project:.
1. It helps to do a test run with inexpensive printer paper before committing to the more expensive vinyl.
2. When using transfer paper, the top is VERY sticky, EVERYTHING (especially animal hair) sticks to it, so be very careful where you place it while you are working!
3. My transfer paper had guidelines on the back of the working surface. Not very helpful if you can't see them! I put sheets of white paper underneath my project, then I could see the grid perfectly
4. The letters do not like to stay put when you are trying to put the sticky side over them, I used very small pieces of masking tape to temporarily tape them to the backing so they would not move while I adhered the transfer tape.
5. A level is very helpful when determining the position on the wall (laser levels are even better!).

Burnishing to the wall

6. Burnish, burnish, burnish....then burnish some more. To the transfer tape, then to the wall. When you think you have burnished enough, do it some more, it will make your project go much more smoothly. The vinyl will not stretch if everything is burnished correctly.